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About this project

Why We Need you-

Nu Way 2 Commute was born out of the need to bridge the gap between a bicycle and a car.

Tired of filling up your tank? Tired of spending hours circling the beach looking for a decent parking space? Well, we are too! The E-fox is the cleanest way to make your daily commute or just a joy ride more efficient and also fun! Ever dreamed of riding your bike to work but hate the thought of showing up hot and sweaty? Not anymore.

This three wheeled electric assisted, human powered velomobile is environmentally friendly and fills a void that gives substantial advantages over both a bike and a car. It has a roof rack to carry a surfboard as well as a trunk to carry groceries, and/or a book bag/laptop. The e-fox comes with rain doors that roll down in case of rain as well. The powerful, 500 watt, direct drive, hub motor does great on flat ground and in hills.

Raising the funds are necessary for full production, right here in Wilmington NC, USA. It will allow us to build models faster and more efficiently. We are raising funds to produce the first 10 production models of the E-fox. The money will cover the cost of materials and pay employees to build them. We want to make these vehicles affordable and accessible to many people. This KICKSTARTER campaign will allow us to do so.

Caleb Stephenson working on the details.

Jess Frank, who is a certified bike mechanic and has worked in several bike shops over the years, has been an integral part of the team, and will be our go-to person for assembly and questions that customers may have about minor adjustments, etc.

The early days; Jess and Javi prepare the mold.

SPECS--

Rover: The platform is one of the most reliable recumbent trikes in the industry: the Terra Trike Rover.

Weight: 132 lbs.

Battery: 36 volt, 15 amp hour, lithium battery

Payload: 270 lbs.

Motor: 500 watt hub motor

20 MPH

about 30 Miles on a charge, with battery upgrades available

Coming together!

Accessories--

~Trailer

~Battery upgrade

Jonathan Pegram grew up around cars, and his dad oversees over 100 autoparts stores. He has worked on lighting projects before, and eagerly jumped in to give the e-fox its own set of head and tail lights,turn signals, and brake lights. He will be our lighting guy.

Jonathan Installing headlights.

With the e-fox you can use the electric motor alone, just pedal without using the motor, or do both. Most times you will want to do pedal and use the motor to extend the life of your lithium battery. Check out this video of my wife on her morning 5+ mile commute to work on the e-fox. On the way home, she can mostly pedal and get a great workout. Using the e-fox instead of her van only adds about 10 minutes to her commute each way.

This is our store. We will always have at least one on hand for test rides. Most of the components for the e-fox are just off the shelf components. We have a fiberglass guy that will hold our forms at his facility, and can pull finished parts for us. Our trike platform is the Terra Trike Rover that we will order, and our motor comes from electric bike technologies. We met some of the staff of Terra Trike while in a recumbent trike rally and really were impressed not only with their helpful demeanor, but also the quality of the Trike itself. I also went up to PA to visit Jason, who owns electric bike technologies, and was impressed by their efficient production, as well as some of the partnerships they have with well known bike companies.

We will be predominantly assembling the e-fox in our store, and of course working on future models as well.

e-fox in front of our store front. We are ready to start assembling!

Stephensons with the e-fox

trunk of e-fox

interior of e-fox

the e-fox stands ready for today's adventure

The e-fox getting some local media attention. WECT news

People are getting excited about the e-fox here in Wilmington!

Risks and challenges

Risks & Challenges-

Of course with any new design project there are risks and challenges. We have already encountered our fair share of obstacles, but we are very prepared to handle what may present itself in the future. The hardest part of this project has been creating the shell, and finding a qualified fiberglass worker to stay with us throughout it's completion. I spent many nites sanding and shaping, feeling the weight of my lack of experience in this area. We have found that and more! Our newest help comes from a man who is over the boat building course in our local community college. His extensive knowledge of fiberglass form making has helped tremendously. He is a great asset to our team, and has already donated many hours to perfect the our currently designed plugs. Our entire team is here in Wilmington, NC and are very passionate about what we do and what we are creating.

All of our employees, contractors and suppliers must all share the vision- changing the view of traditional transportation, all while making it affordable too.

We want to deliver the best possible E-fox to our investors. With that being said, our current prototype is currently rolling along the busy streets of Wilmington to make sure we have all our kinks worked out. And the best feedback is that of potential customers.

Based on our current time to go from a foam core to a working prototype, we are confident we can deliver an E-fox to our backers by the promised time frame of no longer than 3 months.

But if any snags do arise, we will make sure to stay in constant contact with our backers and keep them informed of any delays or issues.

Rewards

Pledge $1 or more

For $1.00 or more, you will receive a very Special Thank You on our Social Media pages and website.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

Pledge $5 or more

1 backer
Limited (4 left of 5)

For $5.00 or more you will receive a special thank you note on our website and social media pages, as well as the official NuWay2Commute sticker so you can proudly display your support of the movement!

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge $25 or more

4 backers

For backers pledging $25 or more, you will receive all the rewards above PLUS the official NuWay2Commute cotton T-Shirt.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Only ships to: United States

You selected

Pledge $300 or more

1 backer
Limited (9 left of 10)

For $300, backers will receive all the above PLUS a tour of our facility, a meet and greet with staff and a 2 hour E-fox ride!

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Only ships to: United States

You selected

Pledge $1,700 or more

0 backers
Limited (5 left of 5)

COME FLY WITH ME!
For this reward, backers will receive all above rewards PLUS a plane ticket to our Wilmington NC facility. PLUS-- $300 towards towards the purchase of your very own E-fox!!

*Shipping of E-fox additional
*Plane tickets in the USA only.

Estimated delivery:Jan 2014

Only ships to: United States

You selected

Pledge $4,500 or more

0 backers
Limited (10 left of 10)

ROLL WITH ME!
For $4,500, backers will receive their very own, signed E-fox. You will be of the first to own this new human powered vehicle! Each one will be signed by the owner, Jesse Stephenson. NOT ONLY will you save $850 on the cost of the E-fox, but you will also receive the official T-shirt and sticker for your ride!

*Shipping of E-fox additional

Estimated delivery:Feb 2014

Only ships to: United States

Funding period

Oct 21, 2013 - Nov 20, 2013
(30 days)

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